Leasehold Conveyancing in Honiton - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Honiton, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Honiton leasehold conveyancing

Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Honiton garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Honiton conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Honiton conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Honiton. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Honiton who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Honiton conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Honiton which have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Honiton from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Honiton can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Honiton leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • Some Honiton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Honiton conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • What are the common problems that you see in leases for Honiton properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Honiton. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

    I own a ground floor flat in Honiton, conveyancing formalities finalised 2006. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Honiton with over 90 years remaining are worth £210,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083

    You have 60 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £21,900 and £25,200 as well as legals.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Honiton